Celebrate Poetry Month
with Random House Children’s Books
Dear Educator:
ge Hanson
Photo credit: Emma Dod
Recently, I met a second-grade teacher who floored
me by telling me that he recites one of my poems
to his students every day, and that he’s been doing it
for 20 years. As flattering and impressive as that is,
I certainly don’t expect you to emulate him. However,
I think that the notion of sharing a poem daily with your
own students is utterly wonderful.
There’s something about poetry that sinks into us and livens our minds
and our senses. It can show us new ways of seeing the world, turn the
mundane into the spectacular, and turn the ridiculous into the serious . . .
and vice versa. With just a few well-chosen words, a poet can weave a
tapestry of wonder, and create surprise and delight out of things as
diverse as hiccups, robots, bugs, and baseball.
PREPARING
I hope that you enjoy sharing my poems, as well as the poems
of my colleagues, with your students. Recite these poems to them with
enthusiasm . . . you’ll discover that your students will be enthusiastic too.
~Jack Prelutsky
FOR
Make your classroom poetry-friendly. Hang poster
boards with poems written on them from the ceiling,
on the bulletin board, and off the side of your desk.
Here’s a great one to start with:
A POEM IS A LITTLE PATH
A poem is a little path
That leads you through the trees.
It takes you to the cliffs and shores
To anywhere you please.
Follow it and trust your way
With mind and heart as one,
And when the journey’s over,
You’ll find you’ve just begun.
—Charles Ghigna from The 20th-Century Children’s Poetry Treasury
© 1992 by Charles Ghigna
POETRY MONTH
Get ready to immerse your students in poetry! Work
with the school librarian to gather as many poetry
books as you can to share with your budding poets.
Sign up for the free Teachers @ Random e-mail
newsletter and you will receive a poem a day for the
month of April that you can share with students. Go
to www.randomhouse.com/teachers to sign up.
Illustrations © 1997, 1999 Meilo So.
Jack Prelutsky is
our nation’s first-ever
Children’s Poet Laureate!
Week 1: Meet Jack Prelutsky
DAY 1: Surround students with the genius of Jack Prelutsky. Make all of his books available for the class to browse.
Have the class check out the poet’s interactive Web site at www.jackprelutsky.com and get to know him as a friend.
DAY 2: In his newest book, Good Sports, Jack celebrates the joy of participating in sports boys and girls play. Have
students read a few of the poems aloud. Discuss why the book’s title is so
appropriate. Do you have to be a good athlete to be a good sport?
My friend and I play Frisbee
DAY 3: Share with students the fabulous shape poems on pages 42–43 of
The 20th-Century Children’s Poetry Treasury. Discuss how the physical layout
of the poems works with the words. Challenge students to write and design
their own shape poems. Create a bulletin board to display the creations.
In the summer in the park.
I flip the frisbee to her,
It describes a graceful arc.
DAY 4: Read aloud Jack’s introduction to the “Nonsense!” section on page
168 of The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. Then read it along
with the class at a slower pace. Talk about the fun of the rhymes and the
lively language. Why is it so much fun to be silly? Have students try their
hand at a poem that might fit into the “Nonsense!” category.
She runs and tries to catch it,
And I watch her miss and fall—
We both like playing Frisbee,
Though we aren’t good at all.
DAY 5: Have students write a poem congratulating Jack on being named
our nation’s first-ever Children’s Poet Laureate.
—From Good Sports by Jack Prelutsky
© 2007 by Jack Prelutsky
Week 2: Poemstarts—
Where Will Your Poem End Up Going?
DAY 1: Introduce Jack Prelutsky’s Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme to the class. Copy one of the poemstarts
on the board and see how many directions it can go in.
DAY 2: Hand out the poetry journals inside this kit. There are original poemstarts by Jack Prelutsky
that will get students’ creative energy flowing.
DAY 3: Have students write their own poemstarts, and then trade papers with a partner and finish each other’s poems.
DAY 4: Have students bring home a poemstart and complete the poem with a family member.
DAY 5: Host a read-aloud hour where students can read their best poem from the classroom or from home that started
with a poemstart.
Week 3: Budding Anthologists
DAY 1: Jack Prelutsky has selected poems for several acclaimed poetry anthologies. Lead a class discussion about the
format of The Random House Book of Poetry for Children. The anthology is divided into 16 sections and it includes a table
of contents, as well as an index by author, title, first line, and subject. Why is order so important in an anthology?
DAY 2: In his introductory letter in The Random House Book of Poetry for Children, Jack talks about his target audience of
elementary school students and how he chose poems based on what he knew about them. Discuss the concept of a target
audience. What type of poems would students select for an anthology for their parents, their younger siblings, their
teachers, etc.?
DAY 3: Meilo So is the illustrator of three anthologies selected by Jack: Read a Rhyme, Write a Rhyme; The Beauty of the
Beast; and The 20th-Century Children’s Poetry Treasury. Have students take a look at her gorgeous art in the three books.
How do the illustrations help the poems come to life?
DAYS 4–5: Now that students understand the concept of an anthology, put together a classroom poetry anthology. As
a class decide on the target audience and a catchy title. Next have each student choose a poem that inspires him/her—
the poems can be by published poets or by fellow students. Read the selected poems beforehand and decide on a list of
categories for the anthology. Write the categories on the board, and as you read each poem aloud to the class ask for
volunteers to come up and write the poem name in the category it best fits into.
Week 4: Just for Fun!
DAY 1: Have students send a poem-a-gram to a friend in another class.
DAY 2: Make a class recording of students reading their favorite poems or their original poems.
DAY 3: Host a poetry writing contest where the winner reads his or her poem over the loudspeaker
for the whole school to hear.
DAY 4: Invite family members in for tea or punch and have the students read a poem for their guests of honor.
DAY 5: Set aside free time for the class to enjoy poetry. Students can write a poem, read a poem, share a poem with a
friend, or illustrate a poem.
Illustrations: Girl with frisbee © 2007 Chris Raschka; Squirrel, falling boy © 1999 Meilo So; Fish, stork, polar bear © 1997 Meilo So.
Type up the anthology and ask for a few volunteers to illustrate the anthology. Depending on the age
of your students, you may want to assign the table of contents and index to volunteers. Make copies
for each student to bring home and share with their families.
Build your classroom’s
poetry collection!
JACK PRELUTSKY
MORE POETRY
Selected by
Jack Prelutsky
For Younger Readers
by Marilyn Singer
Illustrated by Meilo So
Central Heating: Poems
About Fire and Warmth
The 20th-Century Children’s
Poetry Treasury
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-82912-3 (0-375-82912-1)
GLB: 978-0-375-92912-0 (0-375-92912-6)
Illustrated by Meilo So
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-679-89314-1 (0-679-89314-8)
Illustrated by Meilo So
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-679-87058-6 (0-679-87058-X)
GLB: 978-0-679-97058-3 (0-679-97058-4)
For Laughing Out Loud:
Poems to Tickle Your
Funnybone
Illustrated by Marjorie Priceman
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-394-82144-3 (0-394-82144-0)
Read a Rhyme,
Write a Rhyme
Illustrated by Meilo So
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-82286-5 (0-375-82286-0)
GLB: 978-0-375-92286-2 (0-375-92286-5)
Read-Aloud Rhymes
for the Very Young
Illustrated by Marc Brown
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-394-97218-3 (0-394-97218-5)
The Random House Book of
Poetry for Children
Illustrated by Arnold Lobel
Random House
HC: 978-0-394-85010-8 (0-394-85010-6)
GLB: 978-0-394-95010-5 (0-394-95010-0)
Written by Jack
Prelutsky
Good Sports
Illustrated by Chris Raschka
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-83700-5 (0-375-83700-0)
GLB: 978-0-375-93700-2 (0-375-93700-5)
Beastly Rhymes
to Read After Dark
Judy Sierra
Illustrated by Brian Biggs
Judy Sierra
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-83747-0 (0-375-83747-7)
GLB: 978-0-375-93747-7 (0-375-93747-1)
Available August 2008
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-82516-3 (0-375-82516-9)
GLB: 978-0-375-92516-0 (0-375-92516-3)
The Camel’s Lament
Illustrated by Charles Santore
For Middle-Grade
Readers
Random House
HC: 978-0-375-81426-6 (0-375-81426-4)
The Dream Keeper
and Other Poems
Dogteam
Langston Hughes
Gary Paulsen
Dragonfly
PB: 978-0-440-41130-7 (0-440-41130-0)
Good Dog
Maya Gottfried
Illustrated by
Robert Rahway Zakanitch
Dragonfly
PB: 978-0-553-11383-9 (0-553-11383-6)
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-83409-5 (0-375-83049-9)
GLB: 978-0-375-93049-2 (0-375-93049-3)
Alfred A. Knopf
PB: 978-0-679-88347-0 (0-679-88347-9)
HC: 978-0-679-84421-1 (0-679-84421-X)
GLB: 978-0-679-94421-8 (0-679-94421-4)
Roald Dahl’s Revolting
Rhymes
Roald Dahl
Alfred. A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-81556-0 (0-375-81556-2)
Footprints on the Roof:
Poems About the Earth
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-81094-7 (0-375-81094-3)
GLB: 978-0-375-91094-4 (0-375-91094-8)
How to Cross a Pond:
Poems About Water
Alfred A. Knopf
GLB: 978-0-375-92376-0 (0-375-92376-4)
For Young Adult Readers
Girl Coming In for a Landing
April Halprin Wayland
Illustrated by Elaine Clayton
Yearling
PB: 978-0-440-41903-7 (0-440-41903-4)
Your Own, Sylvia: A Verse
Portrait of Sylvia Plath
Stephanie Hemphill
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-83799-9 (0-375-83799-X)
GLB: 978-0-375-93799-6 (0-375-93799-4)
For All Readers
Favorite Poems: Old and New
Helen Ferris
Hailstones and
Halibut Bones
Doubleday
HC: 978-0-385-07696-8 (0-385-07696-7)
Mary O’Neill,
Illustrated by John Wallner
Doubleday
PB: 978-0-385-41078-6 (0-385-41078-6)
HC: 978-0-385-24484-8 (0-385-24484-3)
Summerhouse Time
Ready . . . Set . . . Read!
Alfred A. Knopf
HC: 978-0-375-84061-6 (0-375-84061-3)
GLB: 978-0-375-94061-3 (0-375-94061-8)
Joanna Cole and
Stephanie Calmenson
Doubleday
HC: 978-0-385-41416-6 (0-385-41416-1)
Eileen Spinelli
A beautiful picture book about Emily Dickinson:
Emily
Michael Bedard
Illustrated by Barbara Cooney
Dragonfly
PB: 978-0-440-41740-8 (0-440-41740-6)
Doubleday
HC: 9780-385-30697-3 (0-385-30697-0)
GLB: 978-0-385-90539-8 (0-385-90539-4)
Random House Children’s Books • School and Library Marketing • 1745 Broadway, Mail Drop 10-4 • New York, NY 10019 • BN0802 • 01/08
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Illustrations © 1997 Meilo So.
The Beauty of the Beast:
Poems from the Animal
Kingdom
Schoolyard Rhymes:
Kids’ Own Rhymes for
Rope-Skipping, Hand
Clapping, Ball Bouncing,
and Just Plain Fun